Worthington Christian: Warriors set to face Danville for first time

Tuesday

One of central Ohio's surest bets to make the postseason each year in Division VII since the division was created in 2013 is the Worthington Christian football team's next opponent.

Danville has made the playoffs 18 times since 1992, including seven consecutive years from 2011-17, but is coming off a rare losing season, having finished 4-6 last fall.

Worthington Christian will face the Blue Devils for the first time when it visits Danville on Friday, Sept. 13.

The Warriors are 1-1 and are coming off a 42-17 loss to Galion Northmor on Sept. 6, a game in which they outgained the Golden Knights 356-269 in total yards and held the ball for five more minutes but committed four turnovers.

Danville is 0-2 and has been outscored 53-18.

"We need to eliminate missed assignments," Warriors coach Jeff Hartings said. "That will help with execution, for sure, on offense and defense."

Hartings was encouraged by his team's opening 27-14 win over Springfield Northeastern on Aug. 30 in which it built a 21-7 halftime lead.

That proved to be a breakout game for sophomore wide receiver D.J. Moore, who had six catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns along with 44 yards in punt returns. He had five catches for 93 yards and one score against Northmor.

"D.J. Moore is a very nice addition to our team," Hartings said. "We look forward to being able to use him in the passing game."

Danville trailed Lucas 12-0 at halftime en route to a 32-12 loss Aug. 30 and was held to 50 yards of offense in the first half of a 21-6 loss to Loudonville on Sept. 6.

The Blue Devils scored their only touchdown against Loudonville on a 14-yard pass from quarterback Charlie Cook to running back Langdon Johnson with five minutes remaining and were limited to 164 total yards.

Running back Alex Holt is another key player for Danville.

Defensively for the Warriors against Northmor, linebacker Braden Anderson had seven tackles and lineman Zach Hoheisel had five.